Feeling very guilty :(

[Steve Maskery]

I have a huge, horrible, ugly and, quite frankly smelly at some time of the year, ivy growing between me and next door. There are several plants and the trunks come up on each side of the fence, so it's difficult to say which bit belongs to whom.

But it is a triffid and this afternoon I decided some of it had to go. I've not cut it down, the height is up to next door's, it's their boundary, but I have started to cut it back a good foot to get back to the fence panel.

As I was hacking away I found a bird's nest with three small blue eggs in. I didn't cut any more, not in that part, anyway, but I have disturbed the nest and it is not as well-hidden as it used to be. I wouldn't have started if I'd realised it was there, I've never seen birds go into the foliage.

I do want to encourage garden birds. I get pigeons and magpies and not much else, but I have seen a couple of male blackbirds recently and something very small I didn't recognise. I'm no twitcher.

I feel very sorry that I have disturbed their home and I hope that the parents continue to live there.

A very contrite Steve.

PS Bits of foliage get absolutely everywhere. I've just pulled an ivy leaf out of my belly button.

 

[Racers]

Hopefully they will lay another batch, it might even be the second one you disturbed.

The Falcons http://www.ntu.ac.uk/ecoweb/biodiversity/falcons/ had a live pigeon in the nest the other day it didn't last long but it was flapping to start with.

Pete

 

[SPSlick]

You could sooth your conscience by making some nest boxes.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Indeed I could and it is something I have been thinking about. My bro is a real twitcher and he suggested the very same. It's not as if I don't have anywhere to site them.

 

[Peter Sefton]

We have had a very similar experience today, we have been doing some maintenance on the workshop and removed a feather edge board only to discover two beautifully made nest both with several eggs in. I hope the mother comes back but I fear the Paslode may have scared her off a few days ago.

But we have managed to stop anyone setting fire to the nest made in our outside cigarette ashtray/bin.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Your blue eggs are likely either a black bird or song thrush Steve. Neither are desperately committed mothers but you might get away with it. The birds in Peters scenarios are more likely either robins or ****. I once had a robin nest in a metal watering can. And a blue *** behind a plant pot on a shelf in the potting shed. Entry was gained through a split piece of feather edge

Both **** and robins are fabulously good mothers that virtually never dessert nests. Thrushes incl blackbirds are far more finicky and apt to leave. Is your next lined with grass or just bare mud? If mud it's a song thrush, if grass then blackbird. If more mossy it could be a Dunnock

 

[Peter Sefton]

These nests are a piece of art, moss and then horse hair. Not sure about the one in the ash box we kept well away since seeing birds entering.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

highly likely its a blue or great *** then Peter. If it's domed then long tailed ***, or just possibly a wren but wrens are more usually bracken on the outside and quite spherical with an entrance hole. LT **** are domed with an entrance hole.

 

[Harbo]

I hate ivy too - my neighbour planted some to grow up his house many years ago - it's now everywhere including my garden.
It does make good nesting sites though as it's evergreen and it pollinates late in the year to give a nectar boost when other plants have stopped flowering.

Rod

 

[Lons]

It's surprising how much disturbance they will accept as long as you stop and leave them alone for a while.
I can't do anything at the minute as we have birds everywhere, even a pair of moorhens in the hedge behind our small wild pond, that's a first for us.
i have a carport thingy at the back of the house where I store stuff, the swallows built 3 nests last year and are back in one of them but a wren has taken over another within a metre of that and built up both sides with moss to seal up the entrance. They tolerate my coming and going.

Seems to be a good year for birds, pheasants brought a clutch of chicks into the garden a couple of weeks ago and we have goldfinches and bullfinches as well as the usual sparrows, starlings blackbirds, thrushes and ****.
It's a great excuse not to do the gardening :lol:

cheers
Bob

 

[Eric The Viking]

Blue speckled eggs, about 3/4" or 1" long: blackbird or thrush, I think.

We hung a teapot on the fence for a while (spout downwards), under the ivy, hopiong for robins, but no takers. They've nested in next door's garage instead, which is a bit disappointing -- they're quite happy to take worms from my wife when she's digging the veg patch (her province, males verboten). They're really tame. We have a tiny lawn but an electric mower, and I was amused to see I had a keen audience when I went to clean it after use a couple of days ago. I think if it had seen anything it would have been straight in there.

A couple of weeks ago I was working under the bonnet of daughter's learn-to-drive Clio, almost under their nest in next door's garage. One of the adults landed on the engine block. I started gently telling it off (is it daft to talk to them?), saying that wasn't the place to nest. It was undeterred, and then jumped right down the back of the engine, into the darkness near the brake master cylinder. I was amazed when it hopped up again after a few seconds, with a fairly fat caterpillar or grub or something in its beak. It was pitch black down there - how on earth did it know?

The blue-**** were in the oldest nest box from 2nd week of Jan. It's on the house right next to the dining room windows, so we get a good view of flight operations over breakfast (boy do they work long hours!). I'm morally certain they're on at least the second clutch of fledglings -- adolescent begging blue-**** are to be found all over the garden. There's still a racket from the box when the adults return, so there are more still to come.

The funniest thing was a brief interaction between one robin and adolescent blue-***. The adult blue-**** seem to start ignoring the youngsters' begging efforts pretty early on, but that doesn't stop them trying.

One of 'our' robins was minding its own business on what will soon be the wife's pea frame (when the pea plants have grown a bit). A teenage blue-*** landed a couple of inches from the robin, turned round so they were practically beak-to-beak, and tried the begging thing. No response, so it tried again (the robin was motionless through all this). Unsuccessful, it sat there for a bit longer then flew off, as did the robin shortly afterwards.

I'd love to know what the robin thought of the incident!

E.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

brilliant...you can see where inspiration for wind in the willows or Beatrix Potter derives when you witness those little dramas going on cant you. The kids mother in law keeps ducks and chickens with a fair sized pond. It's total drama all the time and a very fine way to wile away a Summer Sunday afternoon after a slap up roast, kids in the background playing badminton or chasing round the paddock.

It's almost chicken run in the flesh....right down to the rats that have their holes under the shrubs in the chicken run. They're constantly after either the feed or the eggs. Once there was a massive commotion and we rushed down to see a grass snake swimming across the pond. Mother Mallard with her 12 chicks was most indignant and chased it off in a flurry of down. You could almost imagine the chicks applauding

 

[RogerS]

Look on the bright side, Steve. You could always knock up an omelette. :wink:

 

[RogerS]

Seriously, though, we had a nest inside one of our step-ups with three eggs in. Round the back of the outbuilding so we avoided going round there as much as possible. Stuck my head round to see what was going on and sadly no eggs, no chicks, no eggshells. So a bit bemused as to what has happened to the eggs.

 

[Lons]

Seriously, though, we had a nest inside one of our step-ups with three eggs in. Round the back of the outbuilding so we avoided going round there as much as possible. Stuck my head round to see what was going on and sadly no eggs, no chicks, no eggshells. So a bit bemused as to what has happened to the eggs.

Magpies, crows rats?

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

whats a step up Roger?

 

[Peter Sefton]

Feeling slightly better, just been to check on my new hens and we have our first egg!

Now for the big decision on BH Monday morning Scrabbled, boiled or fried

Cheers Peter

 

[RogerS]

Seriously, though, we had a nest inside one of our step-ups with three eggs in. Round the back of the outbuilding so we avoided going round there as much as possible. Stuck my head round to see what was going on and sadly no eggs, no chicks, no eggshells. So a bit bemused as to what has happened to the eggs.

Magpies, crows rats?

I wondered about that but the nest is very well hidden and quite difficult for a large bird like a magpie or crow to get in without knocking over the step-up (opposite to a climb-down, Bob :wink: ). The eggs were quite large and so for a rat to take them whole (there was nothing to left to indicate they were eaten in situ), it would have to be a pretty big rat :shock:

 

[RogerS]

whats a step up Roger?

Hop-up? It's one of these

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Got you